With a single, eloquent evocation of the common sense and grandeur that should be France, Charles de Gaulle last week changed the mood of his nation. Until he delivered his ringing "no retreat" speech (see below), France had been drifting seemingly unchecked toward civil war in Algeria. After he spoke, there was hopeand growing assurancethat the situation could be saved.
When the European settlers of Algiers began their uprising fortnight ago, it seemed unthinkable that 1,000,000 Algerian "Frenchmen"60% of whom are Spanish, Italian or Maltese by ancestrycould topple a government satisfactory to the majority of their 45 million fellow citizens in...
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